Outdoor Skills Books

Backpacking hammocks are a great alternative to camping in a tent in the right conditions but there’s a steep learning curve to gearing up and learning how to be comfortable across a wide range of temperatures. While you can educate yourself about all the different types of hammocks, top quilts, …

“Mountains make their own weather.” I’ll never forget hearing that from the friend who introduced me to trip planing and accident analysis. It’s a sobering and important lesson for anyone who climbs above timberline across exposed terrain on backpacking and mountaineering trips. Written by Jeff Renner, Mountain Weather explains how …

Contrary to its title, Andrew Skurka’s backpacking book, The Ultimate Hiker’s Gear Guide is not really a book about gear per se, as much as it is about the skills and knowledge that very experienced backpackers develop for planning trips and deciding what gear is appropriate and safe enough to …

Becoming a skilled and confident hiker or backpacker is a lifelong endeavor that requires continuous learning and practice. While reading hiking books can’t give you the hands-on experience that only comes by getting your clothes dirty and boots wet, they are a useful guide to expand your horizons and help …

After many years of hiking and hiking with other people, I’ve concluded that the shoe industry is fundamentally broken and the cause of untold suffering in the hiking world. There are huge individual differences between people’s feet: people have hammer toes, bunions, calluses, corns, thickened nails,bone spurs, flat feet, one …

Extreme Alpinism: Climbing Light, Fast, and High is a great book that is about way more than mountain climbing. Written by Mark Twight and James Mason, it covers a wide range of topics about mental and physical conditioning, sports nutrition, and outdoor clothing systems that are just as applicable to …

I have been reading a lot of books about compass navigation this year to improve my skills as an off-trail navigator and to figure out if there is a better way to teach compass navigation to hikers who want to learn it. The fact is, many people have a really …

Backwoods Ethics is one of my favorite hiking and outdoor conservation books. Written by two legendary New England hikers, Laura and the late Guy Waterman, it was first published in 1979 and is still considered a cornerstone of the outdoor conservation and Leave No Trace movement. If you have an interest in …

Wow! Justin Lichter, uber long-distance hiker, has published a book called Trail Tested which is a must-add gear guide for your backpacking book collection. It’s super readable and an excellent reference for beginners backpackers who are trying to figure out what gear to buy and why, hikers preparing for section …

You’ll probably never use most of the stuff in Ray Mears Essential Bushcraft: A Handbook of Survival Skills from Around the World, but it is fascinating to see the ingenuity of people from around the world and they utilize nature to increase their self-reliance skills. Bushcraft, as Mears notes provides …

The Backpacker’s Field Manual, A Comprehensive Guide to Mastering Backcountry Skills is still the most complete and readable handbook of backpacking instruction available today. Written by Rick Curtis, Director of Princeton University’s Famous Outdoor Recreation Program, it provides a gear-agnostic approach to the skills and techniques required for enjoyable and safe backcountry …

I get tremendous personal satisfaction from learning, practicing, and using my outdoor skills when I go hiking, and it’s become an integral part of every day hike or backpacking trip I take. But there are so many outdoor skills that I am unfamiliar with covered in Mors Kochanski’s classic “Bushcraft”, …

A lot of us pride ourselves on having a lightweight backpacking gear list coupled and the advanced hiking skills that make it possible to replace extra gear with experience and know how. But how far are you willing to push the gear vs. know-how trade-off? Would you be willing to bring a lightweight saw …

The Ultralight Survival Kit by double triple crowner Justin Lichter, explains how to shave all of the just-in-case items that many backpackers needlessly carry on hiking trips. Geared mainly towards triple crown aspirants, thru-hikers, and secton-hikers, it contains all of the tip-and-tricks that seasoned backpackers use to stay safe without carrying …